Opposition against the Shiroyasha
Upon a large rock formation in the vast outskirts of the Rukongai, in a place long abandoned by all manner of life and the gods of death themselves, stood tall a man with flowing silver hair, his arms crossed across his torso with a calm yet resolute facial expression worn upon his face. His eyes gave away the truth, even though his face did not; he was anxious for the events soon to come. The power he possessed roared echoes in his lifetime, and today, he'd have the chance to push himself to the very limits that his strength would allow... and beyond them. "So it begins. Come forth, my opponents. Kawahiru Seireitou stands here, awaiting your arrival." he had spoken. A slim young man with pale skin and long, wavy dark hair struck the ground, the stone producing a dull thud. He raised his head and opened his eyes. "Shirōyasha? Ginpachi? Hakuda no Yonkō?" he asked, pausing between each name. "Kawahiru Seireitō? For surely you must be he whom I have heard tell of since I was a child. Your power is indeed immense," he said, noting the Reiatsu thick in the air. "So what is it you have come here for?" Another slim figure struck the ground, this one with short-cropped straight hair. He stood up and looked around. "Fancy meeting you here again, Tsugawa, old man." "You are the elder between us now, Taira," Tsugawa Kyōbashi replied flatly. "Guess so. Well, well, Seireitō?" Taira Kyōbashi said, turning. "Granted, that was some display of Reiatsu, but I never thought to see you. What'cha doing all the way out here?" Ere any response could be given, however, another figure appeared suddenly out of thin air: a tall, broad-shouldered man clad in a white Shihakushō landed nearby the other newcomers, his long jet black hair fluttering behind him. Immediately he fixed the intense gaze of his piercing, bright yellow eyes on the powerful Sōzōshin, yet his scarred face remained seemingly relaxed. "Prince Kawahiru", began Hikari Maebure sternly. "While I no longer consider myself capable of dethroning your father, this day presents an exceptional opportunity. With my full might and the aid of the others I shall slay you, thus eliminating one of the Soul King's heirs." Subsequently, he calmly placed his hand on the ivory hilt of his Zanpakutō, although he refrained from any further action after sensing the imminent arrival of another participant. The next participant to step foot in the soon-to-be graveyard had been none other than Masatsura Kusunoki himself . As he sensed the Reiatsu saturate into the atmosphere obviously abandoned area he licked his lips the ancient bloodlust of the Kusunoki clan had awoken in him. "Seireitou Kawahiru, with such a challenge that stands before, a challenge you yourself proposed you've hung the sword of damocles over your own head." Finishing the sentence, he mearly focused his molten gold gaze at the man on the rock formation, awaiting for the rest of the warriors to arrive. ---- Elsewhere... A feeling of dread came over the distant Rukongai's inhabited area. The Shiroyasha's exertion of power was hardly different than the feeling that an impending storm, as citizens of the Rukongai all ran as fast as they could into their homes to escape this horrid sensation brought upon them. Or, was it Seireitou that caused them to respond this way? Or was it something else? A fairly tall man, cloaked in what could only be described as a Quincy's attire, the Vandenreich's, specifically. A pair of black pants, strapped with various belts carrying Ginto and other devices, along with a trenchcoat, donned by a longer coat over it. Over all of this was a hooded white cloak, concealing all but the lower half of his face. This being would be the real source of this district's fear, as none before him had forgotten the time when his kind had attacked them not but just a few days ago... "You know your orders." ''the older voice of his leader spoke to him through his earpiece. ''"Find Kawahiru Seireitou, and either convince him or force him to return to the palace. There, I will speak with him and make him one of our own." "I understand, your Majesty." The cloaked man replied in a humble tone. "I don't normally tolerate failure in these sorts of assignments," ''the voice of his King spoke with a reluctant sigh, almost as if he was dreading sending one of his top agents on such a mission to begin with. ''"but seeing as how you're going against one of the very heirs of the Spirit King himself, I'll make an exception. You're one of the best agents belonging to the Stern Ritter, so I find it only fitting that I send one of your calibur to deal with this monster. It's with reluctance that I can't send any more Stern Ritter to assist you. After our slight losses in Seireitei, i'm sparing what use of them I can until the next battle. And if we can get the famed Shiroyasha on our side, somehow..." The voice's tone took a slightly more sinister version of itself. "Then Soul Society will certainly fall for sure!" "It will fall with or without his assistance, your Highness." Asumu replied back with an honest and confident filled tone, hidden through a cold and determined gaze. "The Shinigami will feel the wrath of the Quincy full force before being extinguished into oblivion. Of this, I will make sure of." "Good luck, Stern Ritter "S"..." ''his King spoke one last time. ''"Lord knows, you're going to need it." Wth that, the voice cut itself off, and Asumu was alone. He couldn't tarry any further; if he stayed in this district too long, more Shinigami might come out to deal with him. He had to move. Thanks to Seireitou's exertion of Spiritual Pressure earlier, he knew exactly where to go. But why was Seireitou so far out to begin with? A few long deployments of Hirenkyaku would be all that he needed to come to his designated area. A rocky landscape, barren and devoid of the same habitation that was in the previous district, would be where the Shiroyasha resided? Strange, he thought. He'd expected Seireitou to be far out from society, but why this place? Was he expecting a fight? But coming closer to the battlefield itself was what really got to him. He could feel other Spiritual Pressures in the area, lower than Seireitou's but still numbering in great quantity. What was happening? Arriving to the battlefield and seeing these beings of various designs and appearances, he scowled slightly at the sight of them. More Shinigami ''interfering with his objective? This was an action that wouldn't go unpunished. At this rate, he wanted to eliminate all of the opposition before coming to Seireitou in person. However, before the desire overcame his thought process, he had an idea: Why not use these fools to his advantage if the confrontation ended up in a brawl? Certainly, they could be useful to him after all. With one more Hirenkyaku burst, he reappeared before Seireitou, in front of the other challengers as if he didn't acknowledge their presence in the slightest. Pulling his hood down, revealing a youthful man with short white hair and calm, collected blue eyes, he gazed at the Shiroyasha as his cloak billowed slightly in the winds that were building. "Seireitou Kawahiru." the Quincy spoke in a slightly loude voice, holding no emotion in his words. "I am Asumu Godai, Stern Ritter "S" of the Vandenreich. You have been graced by his Majesty to become one of his ''Special War Assets. ''Therefore, I am obligated to bring you back to his palace, so that you may be blessed properly. Since you are essentially challenging all of this lot into a battle, then I might as well join in it, so that I may bring you to his Majesty against your will." A squint of his eyes was what followed, showing the seriousness of his words and his appearance. "''No one ''defies the will of Lord Juhabach and continues to carry their lives." With this statement, a Quincy cross dangled from his hand, and with a gathering of Reishi, manifested into a unique, cross shaped bow that he held at his side, ready to draw and do battle with when the situation came to. ---- Sitting his rump across a broad boulder, Gekkō Kirameki looked at the gathering of powerful opponents with a strange mixture of both boredom and excitement. The other weirdos where nothing if not bland, all except for that Asumu guy. However, the one being that held his attention captive was the man with the silver hair. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get an appropriate reading on the man's power. But that only succeeded in peaking his interest. Dressed in his usual attire of a tattered shihakushō that flared out into ragged ends, Gekkō grasped the hilt of his zanpakutō. His body radiated with a silver aura as he flashed himself towards the battle field. He landed directly next to the Quincy Asumu and in front of the Shiroyasha. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Seireitou Kawahiru." Gekkō said, a mixed tone of both seriousness and light-mindedness present in his voice, as he released his zanpakutō into its Shikai. ---- High over the mountain range known as Toge spun a giant vortex of immense spiritual pressure. It crackled and swirled in place as it slowly ripped open and formed a giant demonic looking mouth. Kodokuna Okami slowly emerged from the special created looking portal as his eyes fell upon the scene that was taking place bellow him. The strongest that had to offer were all gathering to one specific spot to fight the overwhelming Shiroyasha. "''Greetings to all who have managed to arrive early, and congratulations to all of us who are getting to participate in this battle." Kodokuna bowed as he spoke, showing his respect to all of his fellow combatants as he slowly descended from the air. His own hair, almost as silver as the Shiroyasha's, flowed from side to side as he entered the presence of Seireitou Kawahiru. "My name is Kodokuna Okami. It is more then an honor to met you." Drawing his sword, Makari, Kodokuna stepped forward and prepared for combat. However, he was well aware that the fight wouldn't start for a good few minutes or so. He just wanted to make sure that he was well prepared. "I look forward to fighting along side all of you. Do not hesitate to ask for my assistance! We are in this together." As he continued to speak, his crackled as another figure slowly emerged. However, the instant his silhouette was visible, he vanished in the blink of an eye. His body left behind a small burst of smoke as the snapped shut. A smile drawing from cheek to cheek on Kodokuna's face as he realized at that instance, who had arrived. "I appologize ahead of time, there is indeed at lease one rebelious one amongst us." ---- Climbing towards a rock, a long purple haired person appears, he scouts the area to see if he's found the battlefield. Grabbing onto a rock, he climbs up. "Time to hone my skills, I don't need to use Shunpo." he said. He then jumps on top of a tree and stands on the branches. He can now see everything. He jumps of the branch and and does a grace dive on to bush and survives. Getting of the bush Kanjiro looks towards everyone. "My names Kanjiro Kawashima and I'm here to fight." said the man Just then, as all of the assorted combatants took up positions around the infamous Shirōyasha, an ominous rumble crossed the air. As an emerald crackle began to quake the landscape, visual tendrils of spacial distortive energy crossed across their midst. It began humming, and crackling, louder, and louder, until within a single vibrant thunderclap... CRACK-BOOM! ...a young, black cloaked form of the prodigious heir to the Takuji Clan appeared before them all. As he looked over with onyx eyes, he drew a semblence of a smile, as subtle it may be to his old mentor, "Hello there, Shirōyasha. Its been quite some time since we've clashed blades...let alone that you dared to lay out such an interesting challenge to so many fighters. Getting bored in your old age, Seireitou-dono?" ---- With all the powerful Reiatsu surrounding one local area of the outskirts of the Rukongai, it was only logical it would attract others to investigate. Coming from, the Panteon of the Senjungami was Mushoku Kaigan . An ancient combatant with over 3000 years of immense knowledge. Appearing from a swirling vortex, a tall man appeared out of it. He had waist long purple hair and emotionless light purple eyes. In high class dark kimono and haori with sandals, he appeared on the coming battle ground and saw the Shirōyasha. "Seireitou Kawahiru, Huh? This is a rather rare. As I see there are numerous beings, here. I can only guess that a battle will follow. Mr. Kawahiru, I have heard the rumors of your powers. I look forward to test my powers against someone of your level. My name is Mushoku Kaigan, nice to make your acquaintance." However, there were two things unique about this combantant. One, his Reiryoku was rather.... heavenly or divine for lack of better words. Secondly, and far more curious Mushoku Kaigan bares a stricking similar appearance to Seireitou Kawahiru's older brother Kamui. ---- As the wind started getting stronger, it also started to gather around a single point. The surrounding space seemed to gather the wind in a circle, charging the air around it with static electricity while at the same time as boulders and rocks got damaged by the sheer force of the air before it exploded outwards. The first thing one could hear from the dust was a soft couching as Alex Saoirse emerged from the dust. Looking at the field with his blood red eyes, he took a deep breath to steady his breathing. "This seems interesting, although i wasn't expecting other races than shinigami. " Trying to sense the strength of the others, he removed his long coat and threw it behind one of the rocks, he preferred to keep that one intact if he could help it after all. ---- "So what now?" asked Mizu. "Are you going to respond to Seireitou's call?" "Not sure," answered Hikaru. "We've already fought once before at the Yonkō Reunion. It would kind of be redundant." "I could go fight him myself," said Mizu. "I need the practice." He then took notice of Kirika carrying her Zanpakutō at her side, something that she had not done in a long time. Hikaru shot up when he saw this as well. "Kirika?" asked the Kurosaki brothers tentatively. She turned to face the two of them, wearing the glare that Hikaru remembered when she was still a priestess at Shadow Island; the hardened face of a warrior trapped in a hell of powers that played upon every fear, regret, and hesitation. Hikaru knew that he could not let her go at this alone. "Mizu will fight first, all right?" Kirika nodded. Hikaru stood up, grabbing his sakabatō kept safely in its sheathe. "Let's go." The three arrived at the edge of the battlefield, surveying the others who have gathered to battle Seireitou. No words needed to be spoken between Hikaru and Seireitou. Each other knew of the others presence. Off in the distance, a man in a black cloak was staring at Hikaru. "So there he is, again. Let us see how he reacts to my presence." '' ---- Looking clueless Kaito Musashi wandering around, then he saw a field, Kaito said to himself "is that a battlefield" ? He looked closer and saw several individuals facing a silver-haired man. Then he decided to go over and join everyone facing the silver-haired man. The Faceoff Seireitou's eyes remained ever so consistent in their unwavering composure, a small little smile etched onto his facial expression. "It seems... our party is now complete." He walked onto the landscape, standing his ground as he crossed his arms, his silver hair fluttering in the winds. "Let's get this dance started with a bang." he spoke, his spiritual pressure layering a thick dense blanket over the entire area, causing all within the space to quickly pick up on its broadening intensity. Likewise, this served a dual purpose of making sure to locate each and every combatant; eliminating the possibility of a sneak-attack ambush. He now awaited the first brave soul to make their move. ''"Maybe back-up would have been preferable after all..." ''Asumu thought, flinching and digging his boots into the ground beneath him to keep from skidding back from the massive amount of Spiritual Pressure that his target was emiting. This battle hadn't even started, and he was already dreading the long struggle ahead of him. But, at that same time, he had been given an order from his King, and he wouldn't choose now of all times to back down from such a demand. Not when the war hinged on this conflict. With that, he moved first. He wouldn't dare try to stay near his silver-haired opponent, not with this level of Reiatsu being exerted. The soles of his boots briefly shined with a light blue glow, and with a backwards leap of Hirenkyaku, he took his first shot. His bow's crosshairs aiming right at Seireitou's torso, the three circles of the cross shaped weapon each strinked down into the bow's center. But within the same instant of doing so, they all quickly expanded back to their original size with a blink. Doing this caused three arm-sized arrows to fire from each individual circle, creating a total of nine Heilig Pfeil that soared towards Seireitou at incredible speeds, with the intent to turn his chest into a shot up mess. In doing this, Asumu's leap allowed him to go behind most of the other opponents. If they wished to charge into battle head first like the group of barbarians that they all were, they could be his guests. He wouldn't be like them; he would wait. He would wait and see just what kind of force that they had wrought, and how he would subdue it. After closing his eyes, Seireitou stood his ground. As the arrows neared him... ''closer, closer. With no warning, they shattered instantaneously into specks of reishi. The man's eyes reopened, his smirk still evident on his unnerved face. This was his Muken martial art, the art of the Empty Fist. It was merely a fragment of what was to come... the surface of the water that hid the depths of a god's power. They would soon learn with whom they were dealing with. "I expected disappointment from the Quincy, but I hope the rest of you will provide me with a much more interesting waltz." he had challenged. Seireitou had no intention to make any moves quite yet. He wished to see just what these people were all capable of. Mushoku standing from a far distance, from Asumu decided against his thinking. As Seireitou Kawahiru possesses great power, it would be logical to see if he has useable weaknesses. Mushoku then started to float in mid-air, putting his right hand in the pocket of his haori at his waist. " I would normally, not start battle with the first attack, however someone of your level is an exception. I shall start off with this, my Hokorite (ほこりて, dust hand)." An enormus amount of dust appeared, out of his pocket when he removed his hand. However, this dust was far from the usual kind. It was dust from Sekkiseki. "Let see you deal, with this." With, the slightest of hand gestures the wave of Sekkiseki dust rushes toward the Kawahiru. Quite again, Seireitou needed not to move or alter his standing position. But an even wider grin was portrayed on his face. As the waves of sekki-seki dust began their attack, upon nearing the man's person, their paths suddenly changed. Parallel to the Muken, Seireitou also possessed the Hōkōryū; one of the pinnacles of soft-type martial arts. As if led by some unknown force, the dust broke away from its line of attack and began to move in a different direction, losing a linear motion and assuming a orbiting motion, moving around the silver-haired man's being as it began to form rings, as if it were circling a planetary body. But of course, this was neither spiritual nor physical a power that the Hōkōryū was enacting. It was the man's very will, providing the path for the substance to follow. By Mushoku's actions, he provided Seireitou with an additional defense against reiatsu-based attacks; an action most unwise on the part of the challengers. It circled in various rings of floating sekki-seki sand around Seireitou's being, now under the command of the latter's willpower and no longer Mushoku's to control. Sending any more of this dust would just end in similar actions, perhaps even giving him something else to attack the group with. Seireitou waited and watched as he anticipated that the next wave of attacks would come shortly... "Damn fool," Shindō muttered aloud, as he observed Mushoku's form of attack against the Shirōyasha. He knew all too well from his lessons he briefly undertook from the White Hairs himself, that distributing such tactcs would only hinder their efforts against winning this Battle Royale, not aid them. Not even bothering to lecture his competition, Shindō's eyes narrowed upon the oscillating storm of Spirit Energy repelling grains orbiting around Seireitō. Focusing his vision, he could tell there was a small gap of space between Seireitou and the weaponized dust defense. Calculating to be nearly a foot in radius precisely, Shindō focused on the set distance between him and Seireitou, clasping his hands together, causing a violet flash of light to emit from his palms. Within a mere few seconds, he released his hands to a precise six inches apart, causing a similar eruption of light to emanate around Seireitou... ...and, within an instant... CLAP-BOOM! ...Seireitou's body disappeared, and reappeared directly into the atmosphere, nearly a good hundred meters or so. Simultaneously, Shindō had also ensured he had teleported away from the empty mass of sand and the other warriors. Within this moment, Shindō grasped onto the hilt of his Zanpakutō, channeling the mass of negative electrons within the atmosphere, silently and swiftly releasing his sword into its true form. "Sandā Gakudan!" CRACK-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM...! Within a single flash of light, the atmosphere itself became vividly alive with a wrathful force of nature, directed upon Seireitou himself. Within an instant, pillars of pressurized electrical forces began relentlessly homing in and pummeling the infamous Shirōyasha, and aiming to not only rip him apart, but electrocute, and scald his body to horrendous degrees. Within the midst of the chaos, Shindō held a stoic visage, a rare smile lit upon his lightning reflected face. He reveled in the opportunity in taking a chance of knocking such a renowned warrior from his pedestal, and take it for himself. And now, he could preform a critical blow against his opponent, whereas those before him have failed. If the order were reversed, Seireitou would've indeed had no way out of this. But due to Shindō's naivety from being young, he would've had no way of knowing. Hōkōryū, the art of direction, initiated once more. His arms remained crossed across his torso, his smile ever present, as the lightning strikes began to snap and bend, curling around his body to form a barrier-like shield. But it wasn't merely for defense. He took just a little lightning from the storm to shield himself from possible attacks, forming an almost ribcage-like barrier around his person as he directed the remaining arcs of electricity down for the battlefield below. One... Two... Five... Seven... Seireitou quickly took notice of every combatant that came to face off with the white demon, and he had a special party favor for each and every one of them. The remaining lightning arcs from the skies, not tied into forming the ribcage-shaped defense, were redirected from the storm and send tunneling for the ground below in the form of multiple beams of intensified electricity, aimed to wipe out each and every one of his opponents in one fell swoop. A bolt of vermillion lightning collided with the beam headed towards Hikaru, Kirika, and Mizu. The latter had unleashed his Zanpakutō's Rakurai technique, cancelling out all the power of the lightning blast. "Try again, chalk-locks!" He thrust himself into the fray, crimson bolts gathering around his sword. "Call that a storm? THIS is a storm!" The bolts began forming a board underneath Mizu's feet, with which he began surfing in mid-air towards the sky. He flew directly into the clouds of the storm, which slowly began turning a blood red. "Ryūketsu Rakurai (流血落雷, thunderbolt bloodshed)." The bolts around Mizu's blade melded into a single column of a highly focused electrical energy beam, crashing down towards Seireitou, intending to hit the Shiroyasha with the torrent of power he had dared to inflict against Hikaru and his family. "This one will be a bit more tricky..." Seireitou seemed slightly alarmed, but still felt no need to break his crossed-arms stance. "...But it doesn't change anything. Just like before..." He was becoming slightly annoyed. Apparently, his opponents didn't understand quite yet that simply striking with overwhelming force would just blow up in their face. And actually, that was what was about to happen to poor Mizu. With a simple Hōkōryū flick, the force of the lightning beam began to crackle and break off into millions of small electrical strands, bending around in a medley of directions as they all reformed in the exact same position. But this time... the beam was aimed for the thunderclouds above. And to Mizu's mistake, because he was within the clouds, and that the redirected beam itself was, for all intents and purposes, connected physically with the raging storm clouds, the Hōkōryū preformed its redirection, causing the entire thunderstorm to collapse onto Mizu in addition to the beam from earlier being fired back into the clouds. The deafening explosion began, as the thunderstorm imploded onto Mizu's body, with the intent to completely eradicate the Shinigami's body. Because the flow of energy itself was redirected and manipulated, not even Mizu's ability would be able to reassume control, as he lacked the same level of power over his Zanpakutō as Seireitou did with his Hakuda. The silver-haired man stood, watching as the lightning concluded its immense collapse onto Mizu. The result was Seireitou's body being illuminated by the light, appearing like an angel of death, prepared to strike them all with the judgment of the heavens themselves and to show them all the meaning of the power of a god. He stood, crossed arms, awaiting the next assault as he was rather sure of Mizu's demise. Hikaru blinked. "Huh, that happened." "What do you mean 'Huh, that happened.'?!" yelled Kirika. "Mizu's probably bacon right now!" The red haired Yonkō shook his head. "He's taken worse hits. Let's see how everyone else faces off against Sei." Kirika sighed. She wasn't sure whether her husband had too much faith in Mizu's abilities, or she underestimated her brother-in-law. Sighing, Gekkō walked forth. "Guess, I'm up." He said, his entire being illuminating with an intense spiritual energy. From the stories he had heard, and the way this guy was wiping the floor with some of the most powerful beings he had ever seen, Gekkō automatically new that charging in like an idiot wouldn't work. At least not in the way he would hope. It would work for the Shiroyasha, however. Endowing his blade with the destructive spiritual energy of the Harudōga. Gekkō slashed towards the white-haired man several times. Releasing several Harudōga Mūshōs at the man with extreme speeds. The dark forces homed in onto the Shiroyasha, quickly melding into one huge energy wave. They ruptured the land to rubble as the closed in on their target. However, that was only a distraction. Using Hohō, Gekkō flashed above Seireitou. "Bakudō # 75. Gochūtekkan!" He yelled, as five incredibly tall and thick pillars, which where all endowed with the dark energies Gekkō had infused into the Kidō and where connected to each other by chains, plummeted towards the White Demon. "Ohoho... One of you favors multiple step attacks. Sadly, your samba could use some work." Seireitou mused. It wasn't a difficult thing really, using his Hōkōryū once again. And because Gekkō's Harudōga attack was composed originally of several miniature attacks, he provided the silver-haired man with more than enough material. The first part was simple enough. Gazing upon the impeding dark energy attack, with Hōkōryū, he split the massive blast into its original several component waves. Then, in the same instant, Seireitou's gaze was tilted upwards, his arms still crossed, as he looked upon the Bakudō coming down to crush him. Smirking, he sent about half of the various energy waves up toward the Bakudō, creating a massive explosion as fragments of the destroyed binding spell went flying in all directions. Even if those spells were composed of dark energy, it was only logical that dark energy would be capable of destroying it. Similar forces were known to repel each other, so quite easily, they could be used to destroy one another. He had destroyed the Bakudō and, with any luck, hopefully caused Gekkō to garner some distance from the silver-haired man. Hōkōryū Onslaught As for the other dark energy waves, the Hōkōryū drew them inwards and were used to surround the original lightning ribcage-shaped barrier he created from Shindō's previous attack. He bent their shapes and even personified them slightly, imprinting his own will onto the energy he drew in via the Hōkōryū Hakuda technique, crafting an almost humanoid-like dark energy cloak surrounding the ribcage defense, strengthening the overall barrier Seireitou had set up from the careless attacks of his opponent. By doing such an act, he'd be able to actually command the structure to move in accordance with his mental orders, similar to that of the Bankai of Sajin Komamura. It assumed a rather demonic appearance due to the nature of Gekkō's dark energy, taking on a dark blue color. In reference to its now personified appearance, two of the remaining Harudōga attacks Gekkō fired were grasped by the constructs hands, another quick flick of Hōkōryū locking the energy flow of the dark energy waves so as to stabilize them and form lance-like weapons for combat. It was now, in his mind, complete. With this spiritual construct acting as a nearly invincible defense, and the potential attacks he could cast with the cloaked barrier, he'd need no longer use his own abilities to fight off his attackers. Unless they had some strategy to defeat it... which he doubted. With a stoic expression, he faced the attackers; those he could visibly see, including Gekkō. "I'm going to give everybody some advice! So make sure to listen up." he announced, his facial expression changing slightly. He didn't come here to kill them, nor to humiliate them. Seireitou, at his core, always served as a mentor. And he wished solely to make sure that the next generation of fighters would be capable of seeking what he sought, rather than merely following in his footsteps and repeating his same mistakes in life. Peace. But for that... he'd need to force them to fight with everything they have, even if death must be a casualty for them. "Attacking me with brute force won't work, I've trained far too long in my lifetime and fought enough opponents to have devised more than a sufficient amount of strategies to counter any form of overwhelming force. Therefore, you must figure out a way to attack in such a way that I am unable to anticipate it before it makes contact with me! That is the only way!" he explained, hoping that his words would help his opponents in some manner. Hikari Maebure's so far stoic face twitched momentarily. Kawahiru's power was truly debilitating and all-encompassing, yet Hikari's resolve did not waver. He was a pureblood Sōzōshin as well, the last head of the House Maebure. A veteran of countless conflicts and battles, he had become an accomplished war hero centuries before young Kawahiru was even born. Son of the Soul King or not, Maebure refused to consider him unbeatable. Hearing Seireitou's words, Hikari promptly drew his Zanpakutō, Tteooleuneun Taeyang. As the blade was slicing the air in a swift motion it dissipated suddenly in a brief flash of light, only to be replaced by a narrow beam of energy of burnt orange colour. Having released his Shikai, he leapt at the Prince at full speed. Rather than charging head on, however, he stopped abruptly and changed direction, leaving a number of ghostly afterimages behind. Running circles around the demonic apparition of dark energy surrounding Kawahiru, Hikari assembled a small army of Shunpo clones. The flickering copies surrounded Seireitou completely within a split second. "Maboroshi", uttered Maebure silently. All of a sudden the number of afterimages multiplied considerably, overshadowing the giant of dark energy with sheer numbers. They were running, leaping, rebounding, charging and then retreating, each of them at a different time and in a different direction. Then, they all opened their mouths simultaneously. "Hyapporankan, Shakkahō, Hōrin, Aikadan, Sajō Sabaku, Kuyō Shibari, Sōren Sōkatsui, Raikohō, Tenran...", the clones were uttering all at the same time whilst pointing their free hands at the stationary Kawahiru. Then, the massive volley of various Kidō spells crashed down on Seireitou, observed attentively by a single Hikari Maebure who remained immobile for a moment during the manoeuvre. Subsequently, as the techniques were about to strike Kawahiru, Maebure plunged at him with his Zanpakutō held two-handed in a Shunpo-empowered thrust. "Tch..." Seireitou let out a soft sigh of annoyance. Perhaps he shouldn't bother explaining how to beat him. Perhaps the use of Kidō earlier on in the fight would've been wise, as it would've made it more difficult to take hold of spells with Hōkōryū, but now that he had created such a massive construct, such a strategy would be rather pointless now. Seireitou could only mentally facepalm at the poor timing by his opponents as he could feel the impacts, one by one, as each and every one of the spells began to explode onto the reiatsu construct. But each and every time they did, Hikari would no longer have his will imprinted over the spells he cast as they would've served their intended purpose, and the energy comprising them would be taken by the Hōkōryū and assimilated into the large construct, further empowering it as it began to grow slightly, gaining four arms now and those hands each held a lance-like weapon like the former ones before it. The brilliant blue aura glowed brightly, illuminating the entire area and eradicating the shadows hiding away the other opponents who dared to try and mask their presence under cover of darkness. Hikari's sword strike, strong as it was, produced nary a crack on the construct's wall. All that succeeded from the attack was the counterforce generated by the enacted force, causing Hikari to be pushed back a ways away from Seireitou and his energy construct. His attack, although far more effective in theory, failed, just as the ones before him. The time for Seireitou to start the genocide soon approached... but he continued to extend his patience as he watched for the next set of attacks. "Tch...Even The Heavens Bleed, Hakushomei!" Upon the release command of his Shikai being stated, a massive amount of reiatsu explodes from the body of Masatsura, the golden color of it seemingly capable of out shining even the brightest of stars the density of it seemed to cause the ground to tremble before it's might as Masatsura drew his blade. Upon the release of Hakushomei, It's blade had become coated the the roaring flames of the Ten No Honō ability, which with a single downward stroke of the blade, were sent burning there way towards the Shiroyasha in the form of a tidel wave of golden flames. That however would not be the only assult by the Kusunoki, as around the same time the flames sent on there path of destructon, ten pink spears of energy formed on either side of him as he began the incantation to the Hado spell Senjū Kōten Taihō. "Limit of the thousands hands, respectful hands, unable to touch the darkness. Shooting hands unable to reflect the blue sky. The road that basks in light, the wind that ignited the embers, time that gathers when both are together, there is no need to be hesitant, obey my orders. Light bullets, eight bodies, nine items, book of heaven, diseased treasure, great wheel, grey fortress tower. Aim far away, scatter brightly and cleanly when fired" ''Upon the culmination of the incantion once the spell had reached its full power was it too launched towards the Kawahiru, the spell and combined with the shikai's flames, if they hit there target should be more then enough to do in the construct of spiritual energy. ''"Yet again..." Seireitou's disappointment was beginning to boil over onto utter pity. He warned them about using overwhelming force against it. Not only did the numbers not matter but it also didn't matter how strong the attack. Hōkōryū was a martial art that stood as the pinnacle of soft-type combat: turning the attacker's force to their disadvantage, with the defender exerting minimal force. The shield did, however, crack under the pressure. But only for an instant. Once both explosions occured, prompting earthquakes originating from the point of impact, and the energy was loosed from Masatsura's will, the energy began to bend and curl, as if being sewn into the broken construct and repairing the damage it inflicted upon it. The end result of the combination attack served nothing more than to fuel the construct's defensive and subsequent offensive power, a grave situation that made it ever so difficult to fight the silver-haired combatant. "Time... for a little taste. Let's mambo." he mused, as each of the construct's six arms held their energy lances out horizontally and aimed for six different directions in a circular formation. At the tip of each, a small orb of reiseī formed and compressed. "Reihikari." the silver-haired Yonkō uttered, as enourmous bursts of spiritual energy erupted from each of the six lance tips, crushing through the rock formations in the area and causing massive devastation to the entire landscape. Cliffs began to loosen and fall, boulders falling like snow from the skies as debris from the destruction. Seireitou wanted to pressure his opponents now, to see what he could force them to do in order to survive against him in this battle. Subsequently around the same time that Seireitou fired his Reihikari, Kodokuna found it the perfect time to spring into action. "He is right. Working together would be the best route to take. Brute force will not work on him. A combined attack is out of the question, as he'll just use it against us and strengthen that beast." Flashing out of the view of his comrades, Kodokuna began his assault. "I'll start by finding away around that Reihikari he can fire..." Drawing his Onitaberu back, he rushed high up into the falling shards of earth that were created from the immensly powerful technique fired by the silve-haired demon. "I'll start with a straight forward assault..." Cleaving one of the boulders in two with a single strike from his sword, Kodokuna took grasp of the individual halves and hurled them toward Seireitou. The only thing saught to gain from this was a pure distraction, and a rather simple one to achieve. "I thank you for his advice, but is it really needed? You see the power we can deliver, but you are simply just stronger. A god amongst men is what I would call you. Though, in mythology, many gods are opposed by those who once worshiped them." Allowing for his Onitaberu to levitate, Kodokuna spun it, and released a torrent of wind into the falling shards of earth that he had hurled toward Seireitou. "Some people spend all their time looking at the bigger picture, when the littler one held the most information and detail...." " " Placing his index and middle finger up to his face as the barrage of earth shards continued to hurdle toward the mass structure of stolen energy, Kodokuna began to produce a dark crimson aura. The negativity releasing off of his person was that reminiscent to an Espada level arrancar, and much more dangerous then any wicked beast could produce. "Begone...with the anger of a thousand Hollows..." Bringing his Onitaberu down for one final strike, Kodokuna shrouded the falling boulders in an overwhelming amount of spiritual energy, all the while flashing back to his original position on the ground. With that, Seireitou grit his teeth. And finally... the patience had soon ended. "I'm telling you... it's useless!" he roared, ripples of spiritual pressure long built up within the construct began to span outwards, disrupting the peaceful tranquility of the skies and clouds above, replacing it with a sense of dread, feelings of death filling the air as the silver-haired man stared at the incoming attack with a menacing glare. The falling rocks were of no consequence, bouncing off of the energy construct without even so much as scratching the surface. Instantaneously, the wind torrent sent out by Kododuna was met with an invisible force; one that had been used beforehand, against the Quincy named Asumu. The martial art, Muken, was used once more. But with an added twist: the will to attack with Ikkotsu had been materialized instead of a normal strike. The vibration fist versus the wind storm, as the two opposing forces canceled one another out, resulting in a ceasefire. However, the engagement was not quite finished. The incoming black Cero quickly caught his eye. A simple matter. Hōkōryū was just like that of the Empty Fist style, limited only by the user's perception and senses. This time, however... the energy beam was curved and twisted, losing its linear form and turned into a spiral-like whirlpool of reiatsu as it was soon sewn right into the construct, causing its size to slowly grow as the energy lances it was wielding suddenly took on a black color instead of blue, to symbolize the integration of the Cero Oscuros into the construct. Once more, Seireitou foiled another attempt at attacking him using the same Hakuda technique as before. So far, it was rather evident. Hōkōryū and Muken... These two techniques alone could end the lives of each and every challenger in an instant if Seireitou so wished. It did not matter how strong the energy attack nor its range... nor its broadness. Regardless of such qualities, the Hōkōryū could effortlessly alter its path; a skill acquired through a thousand years of mastering the ancient Hakuda styles, which emphasized the mastery of one's own will and body, which would allow the manipulation of another's. His disappointment in them was exponentially rising with each passing moment, his annoyed expression masking the true intensity of his brooding pity for the ones who had come here today. "Perhaps instead of one at a time... you should come at me as a group." he advised with a soft tone of voice, completely in contrast to the annoyance he felt within. Tsugawa sheathed his Zanpakutō, having used it to absorb the lightning redirected from Shindō's attack at him and Taira. Of course, this was only natural for his Narunosuke. He let out a sigh. "Clearly, they cannot comprehend the situation." Taira nodded. "Kidō won't get this thing, so take it down with Hakuda!" he replied. He and Tsugawa leapt towards the enormous being. They each drew back a single arm, bringing it down in a knife-hand strike with bone-shattering force. They each aimed for the construct's shoulder on their side, recognizing that breaking those joints would be the fastest way to victory. In doing so, they left an opening, right down the middle. "Hey blue-hair, you do somethin' now!" Taira shouted at Kaitō as they neared the giant. As soon as he heard him shout, Kaitō immediately used his Shunpō to attack the opening on the large construct, and put as much force into the attack as he could. "Ohoho... So it seems you lot had some dance moves left in your repertoire." Seireitou had mused. He was quite amused at their attempts at besting him in an exchange of Hakuda. So much so that he didn't even lift a finger. He watched as the duo known as Taira and Tsugawa attempted to strike the shoulder of the energy construct with a fierce knifehand assault. To counter such a silly maneuver would be child's play. Hōkōryū is a technique of direction. It doesn't not act according to some predetermined law of equilibrium, such as spreading out even among the entirety of the construct. The flow of energy would follow the whim of its tamer; the will of the Hakuda Grandmaster whom was facing these opponents. With a simple change in gaze, the direction of energy changed course as each of the individual "rivers" were all converging onto one point: the shoulder that was being struck by Taira and Tsugawa. As such, their attack was completely thwarted; resulting in absolutely zero damage to the structure. It was quite silly to call it an "opening". Subsequently, the attack carried out by Kaitō yielded nothing short of failure as well. It was simply... far too late in the lifespan of the energy construct for such simple attacks to cause it severely damage. Furthermore, it would take far more than just some basic concussive force to break through. Seireitou had shut his eyes for a moment, lowering his head slightly. "I will give you credit for thinking you could fight me on my terms. However, you are far too much of an amatuer to tango with me." the silver-haired man remarked, opening his eyes and then raising his head to catch the three in his gaze. Just he had done once before, he materialized his will to strike; a skill obtained through centuries of training and realization: the Muken. A straight punch, a knifehand strike, a backfist, a hook punch, an uppercut, a hammer fist... were merely basic examples of the attacks that Muken could project outwards. Each of the three were struck by the Muken. The result was debatable, but regardless, it was more than sufficient in its execution and power to push them back from the construct, creating quite a distance. He looked toward the others with a sense of mockery. "Yes, it would seem as though your friends were quite effective before I stomped them. Now here is your chance to beat me!" Seireitou stated, making a motion as if he was wiping dust off of his clothing. "A vicious attack now should be sufficient." he spoke sarcastically. Seeing how Seireitou seemingly only used counters against his current opponents made Alex release a low grumble, this turned out harder then he expected with so many fighters against this opponent. Looking at the damage that was dealt to his predecessor, he started to think of something that he wondered about since he saw the construct made. All of the attacks where made of reiatsu while it didn't seem like something else was used to create the monster thing, while it also seemed as if he used a variation of jujutsu with the redirection displayed until now. "I can't really pinpoint how you do that redirection technique each time Seireitou, although it would be interesting to learn it later if we survived this battle." Wanting to test if his guesses where correct, he slowly and carefully started gathering reishi in his right hand while using kyokkö''' to hide himself from sight before using shunpo towards the construct. Hoping for a small opening, Alex aimed his knife-hand towards the center in an effort to pierce the construct with the gathered strength. Annoyed, Kanjiro looked at how others were not planning their attacks perfecty. As Seireitou was easily survivng every hard hit attack everyone threw at him, he could use his Bankai. Thinking about it throughly, Kanjiro decided to use that when things got really rough. "I would attack as a team, but I'm not that good with working with others, only my twin brother." said Kanjiro. Looking at the people he's never met, he was amazed at the strength he saw. Could he catch up to them? Looking at the redirecting Kido attack, Kanjiro had a plan. He could easily peform this attack which will hit Seireitou in the procces. "Such a cool technique, looks like it's my turn." said Kanjiro. Concentrating dense amounts of reaitsu, Kanjiro had punched the ground. "Here's my '''Fuhen Eikyou Sabi(普遍影響錆, Universal Impact Rust)!" shouted Kanjiro. The ground started to crack abit and then quickly started heading towards Seireitou, then the attack had made a crater. An invisible hand would start to rise and attempt to hit Seireitou.